wax foundation

By that time, the new hives and improved artificial wax foundations, new smokers, even new breeds of bees meant that the beekeepers of John Levett's day became the more dignified 'apiarists.'

The design allows it to be used for "top bar" beekeeping, the natural, sustainable form of beekeeping, allowing the bees to make free-form honeycomb rather than forcing them into the prefabricated wax foundation favoured by commercial beekeepers.